Spelling it Uot
by Jazzola
Summary: The title is a deliberate typo!  Alex uncovers a secret Gene's been hiding, and decides to help him with it. Slightly darker in the last chapter, Galex coming soon!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is just a little oneshot I came up with, it's probably got no fact in it at all but I just wanted to write it. Enjoy! Jazzola :)

* * *

"Guv, we've got a call!"

Alex Drake burst through the double doors of Fenchurch East CID and marched straight up to the large, glass-panelled office which housed Gene Hunt, who at this moment in time was grabbing his coat and pulling his driving gloves off his desk along with his Quattro keys. In the rest of the room, Ray Carling and Chris Skelton also snatched up their jackets and hurried to the door with their two senior officers, Chris turning and giving Shaz Granger a goofy smile as they went out and Ray sighing at him and muttering "poof" under his breath.

The crime scene was a newsagent's which had been robbed, the owner held at gunpoint and the owner's wife shot in the arm trying to prevent the robbers from taking her solid gold bangle. She had been taken to hospital and was undergoing surgery to get the bullet out from her arm. The owner recounted what had happened, but was understandably worried to get to the hospital and disappeared after a few minutes.

Alex surveyed the scene, taking mental notes as to the wreckage; what things were displaced, where exactly the criminals had gone, what they had done with certain objects, anything that might help her build up a psychological profile of them and try to pin them down.

"Guv, can you write something down for me?"

Gene, on the other side of the room, gulped slightly.

"Uh… Raymondo, pen an' pad an' write down the lady's musings."

Alex gave him a curious look, which he didn't return, instead focusing on the broken window on one side of the shop.

"Alright then, Ray."

Alex began reciting things she could see, things that were obvious and not so obvious, watching as Ray struggled to get it all down and all the time thinking over Gene's hurried response, his reluctance and his expression when he had passed the task over to Ray; almost as though he was hiding something.

"You done, Bolls?"

"Almost," Alex replied, noting a few more things and trying not to snigger as Ray hurriedly rubbed out the "almost" he had just written down.

"Get uniform to cordon off the scene," she told Chris, who nodded and walked outside to give directions. "Gene, could you get me my gloves from the Quattro?" Recently, Alex had taken to carrying around a pair of rubber gloves in the car so as to be able to examine forensic evidence more carefully. Once again delegating the task to Ray, Gene bent down to see what Alex was getting at.

"That is a fingerprint on the glass surface there," Alex murmured, pointing it out to him. "It's not from the shop owner, I noticed a set of his prints next to the till and he has loops on all ten fingers, these are double whorls. They're the fingerprints of our culprits."

Gene nodded his approval and Alex handed back the pad Ray had given her, sliding on the gloves and pushing the notes into Gene's hands.

"Gene, could you just take note while I dust these?"

Taking talcum powder out of her bag, Alex proceeded to liberally flurry it over the prints and take the print on some Sellotape. Looking at the pen and pad in his hand, Gene thrust both into Ray's hands and hurried out to the Quattro, making an excuse about needing to "radio Viv about something".

"The Guv'll do anythin' to ge' o' 'avin to write or anythin'," Ray said quietly as Alex gave him a curious look, pausing in collecting the prints. Alex frowned.

"Why?"

"Never asked," Ray shrugged, taking the notes Alex told him to take and putting the pad down on the table. "Need a piss," he said simply, heading to the toilets at the back of the shop. Taking the opportunity, Alex got a good look at the Quattro and what Gene was doing; simply sitting in the front reading the paper, from the looks of things. Her brain now working overtime, she stored the prints and stood up, dusting off the knees of her jeans and walking back out to the car.

"Go' the prints, Bolly?"

"Yes," Alex said simply, looking round at him. "Your note-taking would have been appreciated, Guv, you sitting out here reading the paper didn't exactly help the investigation, did it?"

Once again looking evasive, Gene pushed the Quattro into gear as Ray and Chris appeared, motioning for Alex to get out to allow them access to the rear seats. Giving Gene a piercing look, Alex did so.

"Stop thinkin', Bolls."

"What?" Alex said distractedly as they sped back to CID.

"You're thinkin' again. Give i' a rest for a minute."

"If only you knew what I was thinking about," Alex thought as they turned a corner, her thoughts interrupted by "Ouch! Oh for God's sake, slow down Gene!" as she was rammed into the window again.

* * *

"Beer o'clock, ladies and gents, so mush before I change my mind an' 'ave you lot stayin' on unpaid overtime!"

The scurry of people rushing out of CID didn't mask the fact that Alex was staring straight at Gene amid the chaos, not moving, waiting until the room was empty and he was grabbing his coat before speaking.

"A word, DCI Hunt."

Gene turned, surprised slightly at her use of his official title but masking the surprise well as Alex walked into his office and sat down on the edge of his desk, motioning for him to sit down as well.

"Yes, DI Drake, what?"

"When I asked you to take those notes, why did you pass the task onto Ray?"

Gene looked away again, refusing to meet Alex's eyes.

"I 'ad other things to do."

"Like reading a paper you'd already read several times? I couldn't help noticing that you weren't reading it conventionally either, studying the pictures instead of reading the words."

Gene looked down at his hands.

"Bolls, this really isn' a good time-"

"It's as good a time as ever, Gene. Why do you have this aversion to reading and writing? It doesn't make any sense at all."

"You wouldn' understand, Bolly."

"Try me."

Something in Gene's eyes prompted Alex to say next, "You can tell me, I won't tell anyone else. You can trust me."

Warmth flooded his eyes, but he looked back down at the desk as he spoke.

"I'm… dyslexic."

Alex looked at him in evident surprise.

"You're dyslexic?"

Gene nodded wordlessly.

"And you didn't want anyone to know, is that right?"

He nodded again, hating her knowing even though he knew he could trust her.

"So how do you do paperwork?"

"I don'. I leave it to the rest o' the team."

"And so that's why Shaz is always doing it and the DCs and you're sitting in your office idly?"

"This doesn' get ou', Bolls. OK? If they find ou'-"

Alex reached out to put her hand on his arm, her eyes finding his as she put her other hand up to tilt his chin up. She could see how vulnerable he felt, how much he hated his disability, in his eyes, burning behind the stormy irises.

"I won't tell anyone. How much can you write?"

"Short words, short sentences. Can' spell either. 'Ad to 'ave 'elp in my graduatin' exams."

"So surely some people know about it?"

"People I lost touch wi' ages ago, Bolls."

"So that's why you always get psychiatry and psychology mixed up. Now I get it; you're not just ignorant, although you're probably trying to wind me up half the time; you can't remember the difference."

"Thanks."

"I meant it as a compliment."

The pair sat in silence for a minute, each digesting what the other had said. Gene leaned over to his filing cabinet and got out a bottle of scotch, pouring one for each of them and pressing hers into her hand as he sat back down. Alex accepted it, taking a swig as she watched him drink the entire contents of his glass in one mouthful and pour himself another.

"Put that down, I don't want you drunk in charge of a pen."

"What?"

"I'm going to give you a dyslexia test."

Part of the reason for what Alex said next was that she wanted to find out how severe his dyslexia was. The other reason was hidden deep inside her, somewhere in the very bowels of her heart.

"Come back to my flat, we'll do it there."

The other connotations of what she had just said came through too late, and Gene smirked as he reached out for his coat and walked towards the door.

"C'mon then. You comin'?"

Alex nodded, grabbing her jacket on her way out of CID and exiting next to her DCI.


	2. Chapter 2

"Left or right handed?"

"Right."

Alex handed over a pen and Gene took it almost reluctantly, used to the feeling of a pen but normally he was bent over a notebook doodling or just signing his signature, a signature he had practised a thousand times in private to make sure that it didn't raise doubts about his ability to write.

"Press it onto the pad and just write your name for now."

Gene lowered the tip of the ballpoint onto the paper and wrote, in slightly shaky but fairly decent letters, GENE S. M. HUNT. It was the name he had been taught to write, and the S and M slipped in through pure habit; he only realised he'd written them when he took the pen off and read it back to himself.

"Gene S. M. Hunt?" Alex read out loud. "What are the S and M?"

"Samuel an' Michael," Gene muttered, putting the pen down next to the pad and looking up at Alex, who had a smile on her face.

"Did you never realise that you shared a name with Sam Tyler?"

"Oh… s'pose I do," Gene murmured, a smile coming onto his face as he put the pieces together. _I share a name wi' one o' my fruitcake DIs! Who would've guessed tha' would happen?_

Still giggling, Alex motioned for Gene to pick the pen back up and sat down next to him at her dining table, drawing a line under Gene's writing and indicating a line for him to start on.

"Write this: _unbreakable_. Try splitting it down into fragments, un-break-able."

Gene put the nib back on the paper, his brow frowning in concentration at having to do something he hadn't done in over ten years, due to his status as DCI allowing him to delegate paperwork to those under his control and below his rank.

In shuddering, reluctant letters, he wrote out _unbraekalbe_.

Alex digested the word, watching as Gene read it back, shook his head irritably and started again, this time getting the spelling into _unbraekabl_. His third try took him to _unbreakable_, and Alex grinned at him as he put the pen down and smiled at the word himself, his rare, sunny smile coming through and seeming to brighten the room just by its presence.

"Congratulations, Gene," Alex laughed, putting her arms round him and giving him a quick hug, but one that set her heart on fire. Gene turned and smiled at her, his skin erupting into goosebumps at the feel of her arms round his broad shoulders.

Maybe this dyslexia thing wasn't so bad after all… here he was, in his DI's flat, writing words out and getting hugs from her for it. Heck, even his mother only gave him a pat on the back or a smile for that.

"Now we'll try something a bit harder," Alex said, and Gene's smile vanished.

"Hmm… let me think… _alcoholism_. Try that."

"That a dig, Bolls?"

Alex laughed, gently nudging Gene with her elbow.

"No. Just try and spell it."

Gene pressed the pen back onto Alex's notepad, his familiar frown once again creasing his forehead as he wrote, concentration oozing from every pore. Alex, watching him, couldn't help but notice that he stuck his tongue out slightly as he wrote, the tip just showing beyond his lips and giving him an incongruously boyish look, like a young schoolboy. With that and his thick blond hair falling over his forehead, he looked more like the kind of boy in Molly's class than the fearsome Gene Hunt, the Manc Lion, the Gene Genie, the Guv and Supreme Ruler of Fenchurch East.

On his first attempt, Gene managed to get down _alcolisum_.

"Not quite, Gene. You must've seen it written down somewhere? On a poster or something? There's one right outside CID and another one near the door in Luigi's, both of them show it. Concentrate."

"What d'you think I'm bloody doin'?" Gene grumbled, but there was no real venom in it and he simply shifted the pen in his grip and started again, thinking before he started.

"There's an h somewhere…"

The second word read _alcohlisum_.

"Closer. Try adding an o in between the h and l, you might be able to get the rest from there."

Gene, still concentrating harder than he'd ever care to admit, got down _alcoholism_.

"Yeah!" Alex laughed, writing "Correct!" and drawing a smiley face with curly hair and a beard under the word. Gene was grinning from ear to ear, pleased with his little triumph, letting Alex hug him again and writing slowly underneath it "me", drawing a laugh from Alex and a quick slap on the side.

"Only almost! Try writing that next to "me"."

Gene complied, spelling it wrong the first time but managing it the second. Slowly this forbidden ability was coming back to him, and he seemed more at ease than he had before; although he knew he'd never be as fluent in writing and spelling as, say, his Bolly, he knew he would be able to write a little if needs be.

"OK, what about… hmm… something you might know but is a bit harder… Bollinger-Knickers! Try that."

Gene frowned once again, the pen on the paper, his eyes moving between it and a blank spot on the table as he thought hard about the spelling.

_Bolinjuh-nickurs._

"Not quite."

_Bollinguh-nickers._

"Closer, but still not there."

_Bollingur-nickers._

Gene could feel his irritation at himself building as he was writing. It was his bloody nickname for her, for Christ's sake! He should be able to spell it, at least; but no, he was sat here with his posh, mouthy tart of a DI, unable to grasp the spelling of something he said pretty much every day. Throwing down the pen in frustration, Gene ran his hand through his hair and reached for the scotch bottle by his elbow, taking a swig and closing his eyes at the sting of the burning liquid travelling down his throat.

When he opened them again, his disappointment still coursing through him and mingling with his irritation and annoyance, Alex had written _Bollinger-Knickers _under his attempts and was watching him with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Don't worry about it, Gene. You need to learn, just as everyone learns to read and write. It's nothing to be ashamed of, and if you try at it you get it; you're actually an intelligent man, underneath all that swagger and bullshit you put up like a shield."

It was the first outright compliment she had really paid him since her arrival in CID, and Gene could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks despite the compliment being flawed.

"Thanks, Bolly," he muttered, staring down into the depths of the scotch bottle to hide his eyes from her gaze. Alex leaned over and made eye contact with him, her own eyes calming, settling the storm in his irises as her hand reached out to shyly rest on top of his.

"Do you want to carry on, or is that enough for tonight?"

"You go' the results o' my test back yet, Bolls?"

"You're not severely dyslexic, you just haven't had the right teaching. If you get a bit more tutoring, which I would like to offer you, then you could find that reading and writing become a lot easier and you can stop avoiding them. Are you going to accept my offer?"

Gene looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers again, a faint smile crossing over his stubborn lips as he nodded.

"Yeah. Er… thank you, Bolly-Kecks."

"No problem at all, Gene Genie," Alex murmured, seeing his eyes flicker down to her lips and back, knowing what he wanted and beginning to feel the want in herself as well… and it got stronger and stronger, building and building, as she leaned towards him and put one hand on his cheek, feeling the heat in it from his blush start to drain out and the stubble underneath prickly and somehow inviting against her hand.

She only realised how close they were when she felt his breath on her face, and her eyes caught the distance between their lips-

_What else could I do?_ she thought to herself, a smile creeping over her lips.

She leaned forwards and kissed him, full on the lips, putting her hand on his and closing her eyes as their lips touched. Gene's heart stuttered, his body unable to believe what was happening.

And then Alex drew back, a smile on her face as she gently raised her hand to touch her lips. Gene looked shocked.

"Am I really that good a kisser?" she teased him, putting her hand on his shoulder to raise herself up. "Come on, they'll be missing you in Luigi's, we should have been there half an hour ago."

Gene nodded, his mind still frozen in shock but beginning to come back to life a little. Sighing to himself, Gene rose up himself and grabbed his coat from the coat rack next to Alex's door, opening it for her and letting her past, courteous for once.

As she walked past, he muttered, "Are you gonna teach me, or kiss me?"

Grinning, Alex turned to face him as he closed the door behind him, her eyes alight.

"You'll have to wait until our next session, Gene Samuel Michael Hunt."

Gene grinned, a rare full smile, the kind he barely ever gave, and followed his DI down to Luigi's, for once neglecting to insult the house wine and to tell Chris to shut up every few minutes.

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A/N: So, what do people think? Does this deserve another chapter? If you want one, I'll write one! Please keep going with the reviews, I really appreciate it. Thanks in advance! For those who are THINKING of going off without reviewing- do it or I will send an angry and hung-over Gene after you! ;D Jazzola :)


	3. Chapter 3

"What about something really nasty? Ambidextrous."

"Amber what?"

"Ambidextrous. Someone who's ambidextrous writes equally well with both hands, they're not right or left handed."

Gene shrugged and watched as Alex wrote it down on a piece of paper next to his hand and held it up for him to read for a few seconds, then put it down face-down and beckoned for him to write it. Alex rested her head against her DCI's shoulder as he wrote, his concentration once again evident and her hand stroking his arm idly as he spelled out the word, not getting it right first time but managing it second time. His grasp of spelling and writing was getting firmer, and he was really getting the hang of it now; not only that, but the nightly sessions had brought Gene and Alex much closer and they seemed to be in a real relationship now, as well as getting on better in the office. The famous "Guv-and-Ma'am" arguments were still there, but were made up by the end of the day, when they would leave CID together and head for Alex's flat for the night's session, which would more than often now end with a kiss and a long drinking session in each other's company.

Gene leaned back and slipped his suit jacket off, the heat in the flat becoming too much for him. Alex had cranked the heating up, protesting that she was too cold, and beads of sweat were beginning to gather on his forehead.

"Bloody hell, Bolls, how d'you spell _overheating_?"

"You tell me, Guv," Alex grinned, reaching up to take his tie off, her fingers deft over the loose knot. Gene tilted his head up to allow her to slip it off his neck, her fingers lingering on the warm skin of his neck, brushing softly over the stubble under his chin.

"Try it. _Overheating._"

Gene thought for a second, and pressed the nib of his pen onto the paper, spelling it right the first time, if a little hesitantly. Alex's eyes lit up and she laughed with joy, hugging Gene round the waist and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Gene beamed with rare vigour, his own eyes shining and his arm snaking round Alex's back and holding her back, both of them delighted at the word sitting innocently on the pad in front of them.

"Yes!" Alex grinned, her hand worming its way into Gene's hair and her eyes finding his as she pulled his head down gently, her eyes darkening as Gene's gauged the situation and ducked his head as well, his lips meeting hers.

What started out as a gentle kiss, a kiss of congratulating, became gradually more and more passionate, and both were gasping as they came up for air, the heat of the kiss exhausting their lungs of oxygen.

Alex ran her fingers through the almost unbelievably soft hair at the nape of Gene's neck, feeling a shiver go up her arm at the feel of it. _How could a man with such a coarse personality have such softness on his body? _His lips dived in to capture hers again, his tongue running gently over her bottom lip, and with a moan she pushed her own out to meet it, the muscles dancing in the middle of their mouths embracing.

With that moan they both knew this was serious.

Alex reached down with her free hand and placed her palm on Gene's leg, her finger drawing a spiral on the smart fabric, flattening the crease as her touch became more insistent, more desperate, and her body began to ache with want, her hair beginning to stand on end but her features softening. As she pressed her body against his, she could feel that a similar effect was being had on his body, and grinned to herself within the kiss as he put his hand on top of hers and gradually eased it up to his chest, pressing it to his heart, which was beating so rapidly Alex could barely count the thumps.

"Still beatin'," he murmured against her mouth, a small smudge of lipstick on his upper lip. Alex lifted away a little bit, her eyes finding his, smouldering in her elegant face and dark with lust and desire.

"Quite quickly, too."

"That's what 'appens when you get excited, isn' i'?"

"Well done, Professor," Alex whispered, her hand finding its way to his thigh and drawing a low moan from him as she pressed it against his skin, her fingers slipping down to the sensitive skin of his inner thigh, getting nearer and nearer his groin with every second. Gene replied in putting his hand on her chest, squeezing and fondling, his face lit up with pleasure as Alex placed her head on his shoulder, giving herself up to him completely. A low rumble sounded from the back of his throat and Alex smiled to herself; the Manc Lion was purring.

"Do what you want with me, Gene," Alex whispered, her vision blurred, her heart about to spill out from her chest. Gene turned his head to stare straight into her eyes, the brown-flecked porcelain orbs he had grown so familiar with, seeing desire and want in them, fixed on his stormy blue irises and realising that she wanted this just as much as he did.

As gentle as ever, just like the first time he met her, his arms slid under her body and carefully picked her up, carrying her through to the bedroom and placing her almost reverently on the bed, sitting down next to her, smiling as her hands lifted to around his shoulders and urged him down, ensnaring his mouth and running her tongue around his teeth, the surprisingly white and even teeth tasting of scotch and a slight tang of tobacco.

Alex's senses were on overload as she drank in his scent, his taste, the feel of his skin and the sensual rush of his body on hers, exploring, caressing, the fingers that had struggled to spell out the words she had given him now deftly easing her clothing from her writhing body and stroking her warm, smooth skin as she pressed her mouth to his and flicked her tongue over the soft skin just behind his ear, drawing a low moan from him and giving her the opportunity to whisper in his ear.

"Bet your mind wasn't spelling this out…"

Gene smirked, his lips pressed to Alex's temple, and bent his head to murmur to her as well, his hair brushing her closed eyes, entwining with her eyelashes and skimming her skin.

"Maybe dyslexia isn' so bad after all…"

And those were the last words said apart from gasps of each other's names in that room for the rest of the night.

* * *

The first thing Chris did after arriving in CID the next day, helpfully, was knock a pile of police files off Ray's desk with his elbow. Helping Ray and Shaz to pick them up and apologising, Chris opened one to check whose file it was and almost dropped it in surprise, seeing his belligerent DCI's face staring up at him, the mugshot of him taken a couple of years previously after his transfer.

"Ray! This is the Guv's file!"

Ray's eyes lit up as he saw the photo, and he snatched it out of Chris's hands, Shaz giving him a disapproving look and folding her arms.

"Ray, put that back, what would the Guv say if 'e found out you'd been looking through his file?"

"There'll be nothin' in 'ere tha' we don' know, we've worked wi' the Guv longer than you've been in the Force," Ray replied carelessly, flicking through and then abruptly stopping on the page that said "Handwriting sample".

"Where's the writin' sample?" Ray muttered, squinting at the page, his eyes widening as he took in what was on it.

The page was blank except for one sentence in the middle of it, and all that was said in it was "DCI Hunt suffers from dyslexia and was unable to provide a handwriting sample".

The three looked round at each other, their expressions almost incredulous. The Gene Genie, the Manc Lion, the Guv, suffered from dyslexia? And to the extent that he couldn't even write properly?

Ray gulped slightly and hurriedly closed the file, his eyes drawn to the Guv's office and checking he wasn't in there. Shaz turned and hurried back to her desk for some reason, and Chris gulped and muttered something as a noise sounded from behind Ray.

"What's up wi' you two?" Ray asked, just as a shadow was cast over him on his chair and the file was whipped out of his fingers by a leather-glove-covered hand.

Ray looked up slowly, his eyes taking in the scowling face of DCI Gene Hunt, and behind him, his DI.

"Well, well, Raymondo. Fancied a little research on me, did you? Sure you're not a poof?"

Laughter rang out in CID, and Ray blushed, anger flaring in his stomach as he took in the look on Gene's face.

"At least I can _write!_" he growled back before he could stop himself.

CID stopped.

The buzz of talk, the clatter of typewriters, the crackle of cigarettes and the squeaks of the office chairs ceased, beginning a silence that was so thick it could have been slashed by a knife. Ray's face slowly changed to shock at what he had just said, and Shaz and Chris quickly averted their gaze from him and Gene, who looked about to explode.

Alex stepped forwards, her high heels shattering the silence abruptly and drawing the eyes of CID onto her; even Gene and Ray ended their staring contest as she put her hand on Gene's arm and pulled him back slightly. To the surprise of those in the office, Gene stepped back with her, his chest heaving with badly-suppressed anger but his face no longer infused with rage.

Alex fixed a hard look on Ray as she stepped to where Gene had been standing, her irises rocky and fury obvious in her thinned lips, her clenched jaw, the lack of her usual humour and professional lightness.

"DS Carling, dyslexia is a disability that people are born with, and they cannot help having it. DCI Hunt has been seeking professional help with his dyslexia, and it is not something he will be mocked about, nor will you class him as anything less than your superior because of it. His intelligence and professionalism, as well as his policing abilities, are not affected by it, and it is not something he can help having. If I become aware of one iota of prejudice or taunting towards DCI Hunt due to this, you will be out of here so fast that you'll think you've been thrown into next week, is that perfectly clear?"

Ray looked away from Alex's furious eyes to Gene behind her, who was calming himself with deep breaths, his fists unclenching but his eyes hard as they met Ray's. They were daring him to say more, to mock him, to belittle him in front of his department because of something he had no say in and was trying so hard to fight. Ray couldn't help but see the vulnerability Gene felt underneath the icy exterior of his eyes, and hurriedly backed down, ducking his head and muttering "yes ma'am, sorry Guv", a little guilt beginning to seep into his chest as Gene took another deep breath and walked past into his office, muttering to Alex to follow him.

Alex simply grabbed Gene's arm as he brushed past her, giving Ray one more annoyed look, spun him round and kissed him full on the lips.

The kiss could have lasted for years as long as Gene and Alex were concerned; Ray's eyes were more like dinner plates by the time they broke apart, and CID was filled with wolf-whistles and calls of "Go get 'er, Guv!"

Gene turned and gave a real smile for pretty much the first time in CID, pulling Alex close to him and planting another kiss on her cheek, her hands winding round his waist and stroking his skin through the soft fabric of his shirt, the same one she had pulled off him the night before. Ray, who was still staring, shell-shocked, caught Gene's eye, looking completely astonished.

Gene turned, with Alex in tow, and marched into his office, only pausing to throw a curt comment Ray's way: "Dyslexia 'as its upsides, Raymondo."

* * *

A/N: This is a birthday present for TimeladyoftheHunt as well as the last chapter for all you lovely people- so happy birthday, Timelady! Hope I did well for you, have some virtual chocolate as a present as well. *throws virtual chocolate* Please review! Hope I didn't disappoint. Virtual chocolate to all my reviewers as well! Jazzola :)


	4. Chapter 4

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, Chris, happy birthday to you!"

The tune was off, Alex noticed dryly as she clapped and cheered with everyone else, watching as Shaz kissed Chris on the cheek and he was congratulated by having beer poured over his head by a drunken DC, but that was to be expected, considering how much alcohol had been consumed by all and how many new barrels of beer Luigi had had to put out; currently he was on the phone to his supplier asking when they could get some more barrels to him, and if it could be very soon as he was down to his last couple of rounds. Certainly these nights gave Luigi a roaring trade, even if he was completely exhausted by the end of the night.

"Luigi!" she called from her table with Gene, who was leaning back against the trattoria wall and slowly getting rid of a huge scotch. "Get something for yourself, you deserve it. Put it on my tab."

Luigi gave her a look that could only be described as the look of a man whose very soul had been saved, and rushed away to get a large glass of Lombardia wine, his favourite since it was from where he had grown up. Gene stretched slightly and took another glug of scotch from his tumbler, stubbing his cigarette out in his ashtray and watching as Alex glared at him for daring to smoke right next to her.

"I stubbed i' out, Bolls."

Alex sighed and reached out to tap him on the nose, the way she used to do when she was pretending to tell Molly off but not being serious. Gene went cross-eyed trying to keep her finger in his line of sight and she giggled at him, trailing her finger slowly down his mouth and gasping and whipping it away when he stuck his tongue out and licked it.

"Gene!"

Gene grinned wickedly, but hurriedly wiped the smile away when someone called for a toast to Chris. Standing up (a little unsteadily), he held his tumbler aloft and joined in with the slurred and definitely not in chorus "To Chris!"

It was then, Alex remembered, that Ray was supposed to give him his birthday card.

Ray fumbled in his pocket and drew out the card, still unsigned and unwritten, and held it up, his expression changing from drunken happiness to "shit!" in a matter of seconds. Alex gave him a hard look and he muttered in the sudden silence, "Forgot to pass it round, sorry, ma'am."

Sighing, Alex held her hand out for the card and took a pen out of her bag lying on the table, flicking the card open and signing her name on it in a flash of biro. Looking up and glaring at Ray once again, Alex turned it and passed it to Gene.

CID's members seemed to freeze, remembering the revelations only a couple of days earlier about Gene's dyslexia. Alex also caught her breath- what had she done?

Gene took the card, keeping his face completely neutral but inside in turmoil. _Wha' if I can't sign i' properly? Wha' if I spell somethin' wrong? Oh God, why couldn' Alex sign on my behalf? You have to write a message as well… if I mess this up, I might as well pu' in for a transfer now, I'd never be able to save face in front o' the others…_

Bravely grasping the pen like a drowning man would clutch at a lifebelt, Gene lowered it onto the card, the eyes of CID on him, and slowly wrote, with characteristic style, _Don't get too drunk, Wonder Chris. The Guv _and passed it on to the next person, whose eyes flicked down to his as they signed it themselves and widened.

Watching them as they signed, Gene picked up quickly on the fact that each one looked at his signature and message before signing their own and passing it on to the next person. Alex watched, her expression clearing as it passed to Bammo, who was stood in front of her, and she read the message too.

Chris didn't look at his message first, Gene noted. He looked at the scribble of "Happy Birthday Chris" first, and then at Shaz's note and signature, and then at his. He felt a little twinge of relief as Chris hugged and kissed Shaz for her message, and then nodded at Gene and gave him a tiny smile, which, to both of their surprise, he returned.

The congregation slowly went back to what they were doing; Chris and Ray had a light-your-fart competition, much to the annoyance of Luigi when Chris dropped the lighter and nearly set a rug on fire when he was trying to light the fart sitting down, and the others carried on drinking and mingling, some trying to chat up a couple of young blondes sat further up the bar and others larking about in true CID style. Gene simply got another tumbler of scotch and sat back, relaxing after a long day's work, watching over the people who inhabited his kingdom and enjoying the feel of Alex's hand on his leg.

Her breath brushed over his ear as she leaned forwards, and he turned to look at her as she whispered to him.

"Well done, Gene."

He knew without asking what she was saying well done for, and simply smiled at her, his gratitude coming out in the form of his rare and beaming smile, his eyes gazing into hers, and the words that followed his grin.

"It's only because I 'ad the best possible teacher."

Alex's smile seemed wider than was humanly possible as she leaned forwards, her eyes shining with happiness, and rested her forehead against his, broad beams on both faces and lighting up their expressions, seeming to be lost in their own little world where nothing else mattered but each other and their smiles and their love.

Of course, that would have to be the moment that DC Terry caught on camera and pinned up in CID on the whiteboard the next day, next to pictures of Chris nursing his burnt finger and Ray successfully lighting the biggest fart of the night. Gene, scowling, took it down, purposefully ripping it slightly, but Alex caught that, instead of throwing it in the bin, he put it in a tin in his desk drawer and shoved it right to the back, not noticing that she had noticed and closing the drawer with a thunk.

_Even the Gene Genie likes to have a nice picture around sometimes, _Alex thought with a smile.

* * *

"Armed blag, over the other side o' town. Fenchurch West is currently unavailable- probably 'ung-over, soft bastards- so we've been called. Raymondo, Chris, Bolly, Quattro, now!" Gene barked, snatching the keys off his desk along with his radio and his coat, draining the last dregs of a bottle of scotch and stomping out of CID. Alex grabbed her jacket and hurriedly followed, Ray and Chris hot on her heels, flanking her and the Guv in true Chris-and-Ray style. Shaz put her radio next to her elbow, switching it on in case it was needed.

Alex threw herself into the Quattro after Chris and Ray and hurriedly shut the door as Gene floored the accelerator and roared off towards the site of the robbery.

The scene was quite like the one that had started off the path of discovery to Gene's dyslexia, Alex thought as she surveyed it; a newsagent's, the door busted in, money taken and shots fired, although this time nobody had been injured. Gene also recognised the MO, crouching down and examining a bootprint on the floor, his eyebrows drawing together as he thought.

"Bolly, did we ge' any shoe prints from the robbery on Mailes Street?"

Alex nodded.

"It's back at the station. That looks very close to it though, if not identical. My professional instincts are telling me that this is the same gang."

Gene was about to reply when a roar sounded from outside and a motorbike skidded round, out of control, and crashed into a lamp-post outside the shop. The rider collapsed on top of the smashed bike, and Alex leapt up as Gene hurriedly radioed Shaz for an ambulance and ran out himself, helping Alex disentangle the biker and crouching down on the floor to support him, feeling his pulse and murmuring to Alex that it was far too weak. Alex stood up and assessed the biker properly; his injuries were too severe, and he was losing blood at an almost unbelievable rate. She doubted he would last long enough to get to hospital.

Spitting out a little blood, the injured man raised his head and managed to rasp to Gene, who was supporting him as he slowly died.

"Can you… write… something… for my… wife?"

Alex's eyes widened as Gene, without even thinking, nodded and rummaged in his coat, pulling out a notepad and pen and watching as the man dictated his words, taking the utmost care in his writing and spelling as he wrote.

"Dear Rebecca, I am thinking of you as I lie here dying. Know that I will always love you and that I will think of you until I am gone. I only wish we had had longer. I love you, from your husband, Stephen."

Stephen managed to get the last word out, but just as Gene finished the last word and put the pen and pad down to get a better grip on the injured man's prone body, his eyes rolled upwards and he gave one last gasp, his life ebbing away, his final request carried out.

Gene could only watch helplessly as the young man died in his arms.

Alex knew that CPR wouldn't help; Stephen was gone, and as Gene gently laid his body down and stood up, the front of his shirt soaked through with blood from the biker's injuries, a tear slid down her cheek and a small sob forced its way through from her throat. Gene put his arm round her awkwardly, making sure that he didn't get blood on her clothes, and as she turned she was surprised to see tears forming in his stormy eyes as well.

"You need a clean shirt, Gene," she whispered, brushing tears away hurriedly as the ambulance arrived and took in the scene. Stephen's body was taken on board, and Shaz was asked to look him up and act as family liaison officer to Rebecca, which she did, albeit slightly reluctantly.

"Come via where we are, the robbery, so you can get the note Gene wrote for Rebecca," Alex told her, picking the note up off the floor and reading it back. Gene, in his concentration, hadn't spelt a word wrong, and his writing was surprisingly even, if a little shaky. That said, that was probably to be expected.

"Did I get i' righ'?"

Alex turned and saw Gene looking at the pad, his shirt changed for a clean replacement and his eyes anxious; he really wanted to get it right, for Stephen and Rebecca's sake, Alex realised.

"Spot on," she murmured to him, walking over and putting the pad down on a low wall, putting her arms round him. Beneath the macho façade and the tough exterior, he was shaken by Stephen's death; he had been the last person to talk to the young man, the person who had carried out his last request. Not only that, but a month ago, Gene would have had to pass the task on to someone else, and Stephen wouldn't have been able to finish in time; his learning how to write had really made a difference, and to a young man's dying moments.

Shaz turned up a minute later to collect the note and drive to the address given for Stephen and Rebecca White.

Reflecting later in his office, pouring himself a double scotch and reliving the day's events in his head to stop them haunting him later, Gene couldn't help but feel a flicker of pride under the sadness and shock; because he had gone to Alex, because he had revealed his dyslexia and had the courage to admit it and get help, not only had he gained a real relationship with his DI, but he had also been able to carry out a man's last request. _Me, Gene Hunt, carry ou' a last request for someone… _He looked out to where Rebecca was standing in the kitchenette, tear tracks glistening like trails of sorry diamonds down her cheeks, the note grasped in her hand the way she might have grasped her husband's hand had she been at the scene of the crash. _I 'elped 'er, anyway. _A tiny smile flickered over his face as Rebecca looked down at the note and managed a similar expression at the sight of his writing, at what Stephen had wanted her to know. He saw Alex looking from her desk and gave her a curt nod and a tight smile; she beckoned him over and whispered for him to come with her back to her flat.

They left CID together, but not before Rebecca had rushed up and thanked Gene profusely, tears running down her cheeks but the note still clutched in her shaking fingers.

"You'll never know how much this means to me," she sobbed, her eyes containing so much thankfulness Alex would never have thought it possible. After a couple more seconds, the poor woman collapsed into Alex's arms as the other woman rubbed her back soothingly, Gene watching and also putting a comforting arm round Rebecca, the note that meant so much pressed to Rebecca's heart, where it would always belong.

* * *

A/N: Hope people liked that last bit, I struggled a little writing it. And so this fic is finished! Please review and tell me what you thought, virtual chocolate for every reviewer! :D Jazzola :)


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